Finals Day at Ally Pally: It’s Orfi and Coll!

Amina Orfi and Paul Coll won their finals in straight games 

Coll overcomes Makin to retain  title

[2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-0 [3] Joel Makin (Wal) 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 (75m)

New Zealand’s World No.3 Paul Coll has retained his title at the London Squash Classic presented by Bassim Haidar after a superb performance against World No.4 Joel Makin at the spectacular Alexandra Palace.

Coll, who beat World No.1 Mostafa Asal to win the inaugural London Classic in 2024, overcame Makin by a 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 victory to earn the 29th PSA Squash Tour title of his career.

Coll came close to exiting the tournament at the second round stage – facing three match balls against Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar – but bounced back in the quarter-finals and semi-finals with wins over Youssef Soliman and Eain Yow Ng.

He saved his best squash for the final against an opponent who would have overtaken him as the World No.3 had he won. Makin battled on court for 80 minutes to beat top seed Diego Elias yesterday, taking 41 minutes longer to beat his semi-final opponent than Coll did to oust Ng.

Coll had earlier seen wife Nele Gilis fall to Amina Orfi in the women’s title decider, but he shrugged that off to keep his quality exceptionally high in his final. Both players rallied down the side walls with immaculate length and width. Makin held a game ball in the opener but was unable to capitalise as Coll came back, and the Welshman smashed the ball into the tin to hand the Kiwi a 1-0 lead.

Makin held a minor lead in the second game too at 7-6, but Coll made the rallies hard physically and took five points in a row to double his lead.

An assured Coll – cheered on by compatriot and four-time World Champion Susan Devoy – kept up the onslaught in the third and kept his opponent at bay to win his first Gold-level title since he triumphed at this event in April 2024.

“I’m stoked, I could have lost in the second round, I was down some match balls, but I knew the type of squash I was playing and I had faith in that,” said Coll afterwards.

 

“I felt great and knew I was playing well. It’s tough to come out firing in the first match of the season and Abouelghar was playing really well. It wasn’t that I improved, but I needed to get that match under my belt.

“It can be tough to have a couple months off and then come back out. I’m very happy with how I went through the tournament.

“Nele and I have been here before, it’s quite tough but I try and keep my emotions in check. I’m very proud of her, I thought she played really well, but Amina was relentless out there today. I had to try not to get too excited or too down.

“It’s pretty surreal to have Susan Devoy watching on. She’s like a super fan, which for me is quite weird because she is one of my idols and a New Zealand legend. It’s so cool to have her in my corner, and she’s such an amazing person.

“All of my boys are here, so I’ll have a few beers with them, but it will have to be a bit tame because we’re heading to Egypt for the CIB Egyptian Open in a few days.

Orfi ends Gilis run to claim title

[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-0 [8] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (49m)

Egyptian 18-year-old Amina Orfi put in a commanding performance as she overcame Belgium’s World No.14 Nele Gilis at the spectacular Alexandra Palace to be crowned the women’s champion at the London Squash Classic presented by Bassim Haidar.

Orfi, the No.2 seed for the event, captured her eighth PSA Squash Tour title after overcoming No.8 seed Gilis by an 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 scoreline to win the Gold-level event.

The pair were meeting for the fourth time on the PSA Squash Tour and Orfi made it three wins in a row after following up an impressive semi-final victory over defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam.

The opening stages of the match were neck-and-neck, with Gilis going toe-to-toe with her opponent in some brutal early rallies. Orfi was initially on the back foot until, at 4-3 down, the World No.5 stepped up the court and began to hurry Gilis, an approach that saw her capture eight unanswered points to go a game ahead.

The second game followed a similar pattern. Orfi ramped up the pace and pounced on the ball whenever she could, giving Gilis no time to settle as she doubled her advantage.

Orfi, watched on by PSA Hall of Famers Jahangir Khan and Susan Devoy, continued to press on in the third game, closing out the win to seal her first title of the season.

“I’m over the moon to capture my second Gold title and the first one of this season,” said Orfi afterwards.

“I think in the beginning, I was just trying to settle, and she was playing long rallies as well, and I knew that in the mid stages that I could attack more once I had a lead.

“I’m flying to Cairo for the CIB Egyptian Open  today, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to celebrate with my family and friends.

It always feels great to be going into a tournament when youv’e won the previous one. I’m looking forward to next week in Egypt.”